009 OTP Materials July 1970-December 1970
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Wednesday 12/9/70 4:00 Dr. Lyons called to tell you that he has seen nothing in the papers about it, but the Congressional Record indicates that the appropriations bill passed the Senate on Monday — 75 to 1. It was the Independent Office HUD appropriations bill that the President vetoed once. 8 DEC 1970 Mr. Eric Hager, Esq. Shearman and Sterling 531 Wall Street New York, New York 10005 Dear Eric: As promised, I report with some cheer that I have hired a general counsel. He is outstanding on all my criteria except for a lack of Washington experience, and I figured there that I might as well have him learn along with me. We are moving along in our preparations for the World Administrative Radio Conference in Geneva next June, at least insofar as preparation of the U.S. formal position is concerned, which must be submitted in January. 1 am also beginning to seek out an outstanding technical type from outside government who could serve as a vice chairman of the delegation representing OT?. I would like to pursue the question of your availability with you at more length as 110011 as you feel able to do so. I think that it is fair to state that at this point both State and OTP feel you would be an outstanding choice. I personally hope you can see you way clear and loot forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Clay T. Whitehead .0 'A it Jr EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20504 DIRECTOR November 23, 1970 Honorable John 0. Pastore United States Senate Washington, D. C. 20515 Dear Senator Pastore: On the occasion of Dr. George F. Mansur's confirmation hearing you requested an outline of the manner in which the Office of Telecommunications Policy intends to implement Executive Order No. 11556 and what areas we intend to cover. I am pleased to comply with that request and to tell you something of our progress to date. The Office will be concerned with a wide range of issues reflecting the broad impact of telecommunications in government, the economy, and our society. The growing recognition that telecommunications policy matters facing the government are so broad, as well as being so complex, was one of the major factors behind the wide support for the establishment of this Office. We will, of course, be concerned with the specific major issues of telecommtnications facing the country, but we will also be concerned with the broad sweep of telecommunications policy, reflecting your concern about the need for the development of an overall national communications policy. The responsibilities of this Office fall into two major categories: (1) the Federal Government's own use of telecommunications, and (2) national communications policy. Additionally, reflecting our location in the Executive Office of the President, the Director of the Office is designated as the President's principal advisor on telecommunications. - We:will be concerned:with all aspects of the Federal Government's own use of communications. Major policy, planning, and operational areas .that can be identified immediately are: coordination of tele- communications preparedness activities; techniques and organizational arrangements for management and procurement of federal communi- cations resources; allocation of spectrum resources to federal users; • -2- criteria and standards for interoperability and efficiencies in federal communications systems; identification of specific telecommunications program economies; and interface with civilian communications systems. Our responsibility in this area of government telecommunications is twofold. We have first:of all a responsibility to the public through the President to see that the Federal Government's overall use of tele- communications is both efficient and effective. In addition, we have a responsibility to the federal departments and agencies who are users of telecommunications to see that a policy and management environment exists in which they can obtain and operate the communications they need to perform their missions. It is a considerable management challenge to find ways to further both these goals simultaneously. In implementing these responsibilities for the Federal Government's use of telecommunications, we will work with and through the user agencies rather than attempting to take over or duplicate their functions. We will address general management issues or will deal with specific program issues as appropriate, putting great stress on a close working relaticriship with the agencies to identify their needs and problems. The practical authority to implement the kinds of decisions this Office is expected to make will be exercised in three major ways: first, review and make recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget on federal agency plans and budgets for telecommunications; second, acsign radio spectrum to federal users, and third, establish telecommunications standards and criteria. In the area of national telecommunications policy, our scope will be similarly broad, although our role will be different. Here, the executive branch is a partner in the public policy dialogue and decision process with the FCC, the Congress, and the public. This Office will be the principal spokesman for the executive branch on communications policy matters. The areas we will cover under this responsibility will vary as the issues facing the nation vary. At the present time, there appear to be several major areas where 'the -executive can have an effecti-sre role in policy formulation. These include: (1) the provision of specialized bulk communications, particularly data communications, and the role of competition and monopoly in these new services; (2) international communications • .• -3- including INTELSAT, U. S. industry structure, international negotiations regarding frequency usage, and the mix of cables and satellites in high density overseas routes; (3) mobile communica- tions; (4) the general problem of mass telecommunications media, including industry structure, access to the media, and cable TV and its relation to over-the-air broadcasting; (5) the associated services that widespread, wide band, wired access to the home make possible; (6) firancing of public broadcasting; (7) efficient, effective, and flexible use of the spectrum; and (8) a more general awareness of the impact of communications on our society and our economy. The areas I have discussed illustrate how broad telecommunications policy must be and indicate the importance of a Presidential perspective on telecommunications policy. Because of this breadth and because of the high degree of interrelation among the various issue areas, the President's broader perspective on the economy and the. society and his associated responsibilities make it imperative that the executive branch become a more effective and more responsible participant in the discussion of these policy issues. We also feel that this role is connected in many ways to the Federal Government's own use of communications, and that there will be great benefits from looking into both areas simultaneously. In short, OTP will permit the Presicbnt to fulfill his responsibility in communications policy, just as he does other important areas of public policy. As you can appreciate, our Office is quite new, and the above descrip- tion of areas of involvement and expected implementation is still somewhat less specific than we would like in the future. However, I am pleased to report that the Office is, in fact, established and at work. There are, of course, problems of establishing ourselves organizationally, establishing relations with the other departments of government, and dealing with specific policy projects. As you know, we also have some budgeting difficulties which are, in turn, causing delays in staffing and in addressing of specific policy needs. We are attempting to deal simultaneously with all these problems. 'We are placing great emphasis On' developing work relationships with the appropriate departments and agencies of government, with knowledgeable people in industry, and with concerned members of -4- the public. As you know, the role of this Office is one of coordination, not operation. While the Office has considerable decision making authority, all our efforts would be counter-productive if we did not work with and through the federal departments and agencies. We are putting particular emphasis on a cooperative and complementary relationship with the Federal Communications Commission, and that experience has been most satisfactory to date. We and the FCC will be concerned with many of the same areas, and we expect that the policy and Presidential perspective of OTP will complement rather than duplicate or compete with the regulatory focus of the Commission. We have put particular emphasis also on developing the role of the Secretary of Commerce in support of this Office as assigned by the Executive Order. We are making quite satisfactory progress in spite of some stringent budgetary constraint. The Department of Commerce has been most cooperative in recognizing their role in support of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, and I am confi- dent that arrangement will work out well. In particular, we have agreed with the Department of Commerce on certain principles regarding their research work program in support of this Office, and I have attached those for your information. ram pleasied to have this opportunity to be somewhat more specific about the Office's plans and to give you a very preliminary progress report after our first two months of operation. I intend to keep the Congress well informed of our progress and plans and look forward to working with you in that regard.• I hope that my future reports will be increasingly more specific and will show substantial progress in dealing with the issues before us. In particular, I hope to have within the next six months a statement of what the de facto policies of the government are in the communications area; how they relate to pending and foreseeable issues; and what needs to be done to close the gaps to bring about some cohesion in overall policy.